Pulicat

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Pulicat is a town which lies in the thiruvallur district, in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is approximately 60 km to the north of Chennai, on the seaward side of the barrier island of Sriharikota, which separates Pulicat Lake from the Bay of Bengal. It gives its name to the Pulicat lake, a shallow lagoon stretching for about 37 m. along the coast.Pulicat Lake is a shallow salt water lagoon which stretches for about 60 km along the coast and is today a nondescript fishing village.

The Dutch built a fort here as early as 1609, and it was for a long time their chief settlement on the Coromandel Coast. It repeatedly changed possession, until finally occupied by the British in 1825. It became part of the Madras Presidency, which later became Madras state in independent India, later renamed Tamil Nadu in 1968. The Dutch church has been built over several times and is rather dilapidated today, and the Dutch fort has fallen into ruin. The old lighthouse still stands at the opposite bank of the lake. The cemetery dating to 1600 has been taken under the wing of the Archeological Survey of India and so has survived the passage of time. The grand, Latin inscribed tombs and graves, carved with skeletons rather than the cross, have been quite well preserved. The cemetery lies behind the market and visitors often don't know that it is there.

Pulicat is also a bird sanctuary. Every year between the months of October and March, thousands of migratory birds land here. Though several varieties can be seen, the flamingos are the most, covering the swamps surrounding the lake, giving it a pink tinge.

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This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

Coordinates: 13°25′N 80°19′E